I used to see myself in the mirror and not like it as much as I should. I use to have a my-hairline-is-so-weird- my- pores-are-huge moment every time I faced a mirror. As LiLo said, it was just not skinny and fat, there were thousands of other problems with my body. From feeling fat to hating the fact i was brunette, my body was imperfect.

I believed I was chubby and that my hair was so curly that it was hideous. I believed that my hips were huge, same as my thighs. The thigh gap trend wasn’t a thing back then, but I was self-conscious about that. And my brows, I had a problem with them. They are big, Brooke Shields/ Lilly Collins big. People told me all the time “you need a wax”, “chopped them down”. That felt horrible. I’ve been taking care of them since I was 12 years old, trimming and waxing but not shrinking them.

Fat, ugly, not perfect. I used to hear those words in my head. Big brows, braces. Thousands of other words ran and ran in my mind. The mirror was not my friend, it was my nemesis.

One day I decided to change those words. I decided to say out loud the things I actually like. I always loved my boobs, to be honest, and my eyes are gorgeous. I also start telling myself good things about my personality. Soon, my self-consciousness went away.

I have to admit that Seventeen Magazine helped a lot. The Body Peace section made me realize my body is in fact beautiful. I also remember reading a Lilly Collins interview. Her eyebrows made her unique, same as mine. Same as many other things in my body. It was not perfect, it still isnt. But it’s mine, and I love it.

I never was the straight As kind of girl. Not because I wasn’t capable of achieving it, but because I didn’t try harder. I had a good GPA though, and many extracurricular activities that required more than my beautiful smile.

Since I can remember, people tell me I’m smart, and I believed it. It feels good when people acknowledge that. And that acknowledge is what brings me down sometimes. Yeah, that sounds weird, how can it feels good and then bring me down?

The answer: people tell me that being journalism is not enough for me. I should be a psychologist, an engineer, something that –and I’m quoting- “shows how smart you really are”, and “won’t waste your intelligence”

That is BS. That’s letting people thoughts change your believes. I believe I can be a kickass journalist, and no matter what people say, I’ll be a heck of one.

When people used to ask me what I want to do I was afraid. Everyone wanted to be a doctor or a lawyer, and I just wanted Miranda Priestly’s job. But I was ashamed; working for a magazine was shameful to me back then. I wanted people to say “ohh wow” in a good way.

People start asking me more and more what I like, often judging my decision. And you know what? Screw them. I should not be ashamed to do what I like to do, and those people think that journalism is just about writing. Every career requires intelligence, no matter what you do. If you are happy, then do it with a smile, and do not care what people think. You’ll ace whatever job you do if you enjoy it. I rather do something I love than something I hate. We all do, right?

I used to be ashamed of my dream. Now I’m not just joyful, I am proud of it. I learned that I should not be ashamed of my dream, neither of sharing it with people.

That little boy raised his voice and told his classmates “It’s time for a change! We should require Animal Crackers to be part of our lunch menu”. Every kid in kindergarten clapped. This boy is a leader, he’ll probably be a CEO, or a senator or the President of United States.

Now imagine the situation if it was a little girl. No one will clap. Instead, they will call her “bossy” or “pushy”. She then shuts up, she doesn’t speak her mind, even if her idea is brilliant. She has the qualities to lead, but those words made her insecure. She now believes that she isn’t good enough, or even if she is, no one cares.

When we grow up, we woman are called b**ch for speaking our minds. We are bossy and pushy. I believe that that’s wrong! We all have potential to lead, no matter what our gender is. A woman can make an amazing leader, just as a man can.

Superheroes and male leaders are all around us. We grew up watching Superman save Louis or male presidents. Even video games; you find more male characters than female. And why is that? Maybe people aren’t ready to see a woman lead, and that should change.

The Girls Scouts want to Ban Bossy, and we should spread the word. #BanBossy. And show the world that women can lead too.

The girls who proved everyone that she is more than what people thing of her.she was truly a kick ass

I remember the first impression she made on me: she is a *insert a world that rhymes with horse here*. Why would she sit naked on Lucas’ car? She was this careless, wild, IT girl. She the rich cheer captain who everybody loved. What a cliché. But even that, we know that B. Davis was a loyal friend from moment one. She stood beside P. Sawyer when she was drugged, and she visited her boyfriend Lucas when he was in a car accident. She said once that she was a b**ch for the sake of being one, but that then it was for the sake of her friends. It is ok to be a b**t, and Brooke taught us that.

She grew a lot when her family lost their money. She always got whatever she wanted, and when her house was sold, she was devastated. But then she learned that her money didn’t define her. That same year she ran for school president against straight-A students. She was considered a bimbo, a party girl who couldn’t achieve something like that. she prove people wrong! She won, and she became a great president.

By senior year she had her own designs sold in a store, and later on she started her brand “Clothes over Bros”. She was a girl who struggled with a lot of pain, with the word “not enough” in her head. She said “people will label you. How you overcome those labels is what matters”. You go, B Davis.

When OTH had a 4-year gap, I was mad. I wanted to see how Brooke did in college. I mean, who didn’t? She owns her own company, a big one, by the age of 21. She dated super-stars and own an amazing place at Manhattan, but she decided to go back to her home, Tree Hill. She always stood up to “0 is not a size”, trying to show girls it’s okay to have curves and not be crazy skinny. She showed us is ok to be yourself.

She adopted a troubled girl. She was the victim of an attack. She got her heart broken and her company destroyed, and she still was Brooke Davis. She overcame every obstacle she had with grace.

She also was sassy and had great come back. She never let people’s words get to her, or at least she pretended so. She was herself, no excuses.

“She was fiercely independent, Brooke Davis. Brilliant, and beautiful, and brave […] Brooke Davis is going to change the world someday. And I’m sure she doesn’t even know it” Yes, Lucas wrote that about Brooke, but I’m sure this applies to all of us. We all are brilliant and beautiful and brave. We can change the world if we want to.

If you could have dinner with any person in this world, dead or alive, real or fantasy, who would it be and why? I would choose someone who I believe needs my help, someone who I believe would have wanted to read this. I want to have dinner with 16-year-old Orly, and tell her this:1) The world won’t end tomorrow. You are sixteen! Your whole life is ahead.
2) An F on an exam doesn’t mean that you have fail in life. Many F’s through your school life doesn’t mean that either. Just keep working hard.
3) Your best friend today won’t talk to you tomorrow. People change, so do relationships.
4) Don’t rush it! You will have plenty time to drink and party.
5) People will talk anyways, so might as well give them something to talk about. (You will work on this for a long long time. Better start now)
6) If you feel someone is treating you badly, tell them. Say what’s on your mind in a nice way. Really, being nice doesn’t mean people can treat you poorly.
7) Don’t let for tomorrow what you can do today. Seriously, we all procrastinate, but there is a limit!
8) Don’t judge! We all have our past, the important thing is our future.
9) Pimples happen, as well as bad hair days. That won’t ruin your life, so cheer up!
10) Read books, write stories, take pictures, create memories.
11) The sweet boy you like is going to turn up into a big jackass. Don’t worry, is not your fault, is his.
12) Don’t give up dancing, you’ll miss it. Seriously, you will find yourself dancing during random moments.
13) Dress to impress- yourself! Be comfortable in whatever you wear

16-year-old Orly, they are other things that you should know. But life is about making mistakes and learning. Fall and stand up. Fall again and do the impossible to try until you conquer. You’ll make it!

You know, sometimes all you need is twenty seconds of insane courage. Just literally twenty seconds of just embarrassing bravery. And I promise you, something great will come of it.” – Benjamin Mee, We Bought a Zoo

Seriously, I don’t remember much about “We Bought a Zoo”. I remember I cried and I laughed, and that I loved it, but ask me exactly what happens between Matt Damon and Scarlett Johansson and I won’t be able to give you a right answer. I do remember it was a pretty movie with an amazing message: go for it. Always go after what you want, even if you are scare.

We all have been in a situation where we don’t know if it’s worth taking a risk. We let fear take over us and we miss incredible things. The fear of failing makes us strike out; it makes us escape from an opportunity and the results in might bring.

I know people who take the risk, I know others that sleep on it. And me, well, I’m more of a pro’s and con’s list kind of girl. But sometimes I let my brave side take over the organized one, and just jump into it. It takes twenty seconds of insane courage to conquer anything. Twenty seconds of non-thinking or analyzing, but just of doing. Maybe the result won’t be exactly what you hope it to be, but you took the risk. If the outcome is good, then great! And if it’s not quite the best, you’ve got a lesson.

When I was six years old I went to this beach club with my uncles and my cousins. My cousin Stephi was an eight-year-old back then, and I wanted to be “a grown up” like her so badly that I imitated her in almost everything she did. When we arrived at our three day vacation destination we ran up to the new stand; I wanted some chocolate and Stephi wanted something to read. She bought a magazine called “TU” (you in Spanish), and just to play grown-up, I ask for one too. I followed my uncles to our beach spot, and sat there with my magazine in hand. Words like “sex”, “clubbing”, “miniskirts” appeared written in the pages. Words unknown to me, words that were taboo for so long. I didn’t understand most of those words until I turned 11-12 and receive and awful amount of information about my body and *cough cough* men’s private parts. But before hitting puberty, I kept reading TU Magazine. Truth to be told, it was a poorly written and edited magazine. Pictures didn’t belong to certain articles, and some overlapped the words printed in the page. Sometimes words were missing and some pages were upside down. It was a mess. But I bought it for anyways. I spent afternoons pretending I was the chief of the magazine (at that age, the term “Editor in Chief” was unknown to me). I corrected some grammar and spelling mistakes. I saw the models in the fashion section, and choose the ones that were good enough for the next issue. I circled the pictures that belong to other articles and wrote the words that were missing. It was my own game, and I loved it.

Correcting that magazine wasn’t the only thing I loved to do as a child. Of course playing with Barbie’s and running around the yard were part of my childhood, along with other activities. I also enjoyed writing in a Word Document short stories. Back then I found my dream career, even if I didn’t realize it.

I was a kid with an ambition: work in a magazine someday. When I grew up I added little things to my dream job. Not only do I want to work for a magazine, but one that is located in the Hearst Tower. Rebecca Bloomwood walked through those doors aiming to get her dream job, and so will I. I will make that 6-year-old girl dream come true. I’ll be an Editor in Chief, a great one.